Catherine Smith
by imnotjkr
Summary: Major HBP Spoilers! On the way to the horcruxes, Harry and the gang meet an astonishing young woman. What is her secret and why does she remind Harry of Sirius? HG RHr CWOC RLNT
1. What?

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?What?

Harry stopped. They'd been on the search for the Horcruxes for nearly a year and there was one main thing he'd learned in that time. How it happened he didn't know but Ron seemed to get a stitch every 10 minutes when they walked. He turned round and sure enough Ron and Hermione were standing next to each other, Ron holding his side, on the long, beaten, dust covered track. Smirking, he remembered the last time Ron had gotten a stitch.

After destroying Hufflepuff's cup, the last but the snake and the locket, which they assumed was still out there, Ron had got a stitch and had stopped so suddenly that Hermione had walked right into him and they'd both fallen in the mud. The smile slid of his face like paint. The day after, he'd heard news of Ginny's new boyfriend. Not that he could complain as he'd been the one to break up their relationship.

A startling crack drew his attention away from the thoughts that gave him an overwhelming desire to punch something. He, at the same time as Hermione and Ron, drew his wand and pointed at the origin of the noise he had correctly considered an Apparation. His jaw dropped when he realised what he was seeing.

There stood a gorgeous woman. Her long black hair fell easily to her waist in enveloping waves, passing her tanned shoulder with a tattoo of a crescent moon. Her tall as a model figure was very shapely and the curves were helped by her deep red tight floral top, black, hip-hugger jean with sparkles at the bottom and black, high-heeled leather boots. She had a silver chain round her neck but the pendant was hidden by a thin silk maroon scarf. Her large silver hoops jangled as they mixed with her hair as the wind blew it. Her slate grey eyes shimmered with laughter and mischief, and her smirking lips were a sparkly red. Thick mascara and eyeliner made her beautiful eyes so much more prominent and the glittery eye-shadow shimmered in the light. A small red handbag hung by her side, clasped in her deep-red finger nailed hands.

Ron looked at her with the same look he gave his potions home work when Hermione refused to help him. Suddenly he looked shocked. "Cat?" He suggested tentatively. When she nodded he ran over and gave her a hug, Hermione looking on jealously. Harry wondered once again why his friends hadn't got together. As soon as Ron let Cat go she started talking, and boy did she talk.

"Well it's about time someone recognised me. Your git of a brother Bill thought I was some girl he'd had a one night stand with and gave me this very awkward apology, Ginny tried to kill me thinking I was Bellatrix fucking Lestrange and the twins thought I was a model interested in an advertising job. Least Charlie recognised me. Went with him to get his tattoo actually, just don't tell your mum, she thinks the whole lot of you (and me come to think of it) were and will be virgins till you marry. Now I know you lot are, but the twins aren't, Bill certainly wasn't, Percy wasn't, me and Charlie lost ours at school and Ginny is, but doesn't plan on keeping it till marriage. She thinks it's too old-fashioned. Anyhow, she'd flip if she found out he had a tattoo. Mind you, she finds out about it and I'll tell the twins the story of your first kiss Ickle Ronniekins and they'll never let it rest. Now come on introduce me to your friend and your girlfriend."

Ron and Hermione both blushed and Ron started," Well you see, I and Hermione are…"

"Just friends, right." She finished sarcasm evident in her voice. "I would have thought you'd have got together by _now_. I mean, you've both fancied each other since third year. Well according to Ginny anyway and she's generally right about these things. And by the way Harry, she says her and Todd say Hi and how was the slut in Albania. So, you haven't introduced me yet."

She had overridden Harry asking what she was on about. What slut in Albania? Sure, they'd been to Albania, but he hadn't dated anyone there, or anywhere for that matter. Ron and Hermione were both a colour of red he didn't realise it was possible to turn and Ron had just opened his mouth to make introductions.

"Well this is Harry and this is Hermione. Guys this is Cat. Cat, do you have any way to prove who you are, besides describing snogging Charlie in a broom closet cause I really don't think I could physically listen to that again without vomiting." Ron obviously wanted evidence so Harry was surprised at the mischievious glint in her eyes that had suddenly caused Ron to go even redder. He looked like his whole head was on fire.

"Well OK ickle Ronniekins, if that's what you want. Well, this is the story of Ron's first kiss."


	2. Where did that come from?

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**Where did that come from?**

"And then…" Cat was having trouble controlling her laughter, while Hermione was doubled over and Harry was in hysterics. Even Ron was chuckling. "… and then they both fell face first in the mud!"

Harry didn't think he'd ever laughed so much in his entire life. He moved and something fell out of his pocket. He bent down to pick it up but found Cat already had it. That was when he realised that it was the fake horcrux. She examined every inch before losing her temper. "Oh Regulus Aristotle Black, if you weren't dead now I would soooooo kill you, you scamming little sneak-thief. You could have left nothing, but noooo, you just had to steal the locket my parents gave me when I was a little girl to leave instead. Well I hope you buggering happy. In fact, I hope you burn in bloody Hell you rotten son of a…" Her hairs seemed to bush out and crackle with electricity. Her eyes flashed green.

"Umm, Cat, you're kind of talking nonsense." Harry told her. Ron looked at Harry like he was crazy. Ron was obviously quite scared of her, but she made Harry feel safe, secure, like the feel of a mothers arm after you've had a nightmare, the feeling that nothing can hurt you. There was something very familiar about her. "What in Merlin's name are you on about? Do you know something about that locket?"

Cat looked up at the sound of Harry's voice. She looked at him and in that moment when their eyes locked, he saw fear, guilt and sympathy, like it was all her fault. He had no idea what was his fault, but it was definitely something. And then there was none of that. Bubbling, bouncy Cat was back. He shook his head. Maybe he'd imagined it.

"This was my necklace. My parents knew this man, Regulus, he lived on my estate. He said if I gave him my necklace, he'd give me a better one as soon as he could. A day later he gave me this." She pulled the silver chain out of her scarf and the trio gasped in shock. It was Slytherin's locket.

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AN Thanx 4 the reviews. Soooooooo appreciated. Sorry 'bout the cliffie, but I'm not sure wots going 2 happen next so I'll post this coz I don't know when I'll finish the next bit 


	3. Be Prepared

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**Be Prepared**

"Don't worry," she insisted, almost immediately. "It's not a horcrux anymore. Reggie saw to that. The R.A.B. on the note, that was him, see. He left me a letter explaining it all. The Smith's, the last family to adopt me before Hogwarts, were muggles so I kept all that stuff hidden from them. My dad was a pure-blood and my mum was a muggle-born, but they put me up for adoption when I was born, visiting occasionally. They thought fourteen was too young to try and start a family, with them at Hogwarts two-thirds of the time. Can't say I blame them personally. I was named after my mum's grandma. Catherine. They told me all about magical life. When I went to Hogwarts I made friends with Charlie and Mrs Weasley took me in every holiday. I've changed a lot since then, see. I was head girl in your first year actually. All studyish, if that's a word. Should be. And I'm certainly not now."

The scarf fell off, exposing her other shoulder where there was a tattoo of a paw print. Harry, Ron and Hermione just stared at her.

"What do you mean horcrux? How do you know about them?" Harry asked, finally recovering from the enormous bombshell she had just dropped.

She gave him a patronizing smile. "You didn't think Dumbledore thought of that all by himself. I told him, helped him with the ring, an all. Reggie knew and he told me. Dumbles didn't believe me till Old Voldie was resurrected. Idiot. Should of believed me earlier, and then everything would have been fine but nooooo. And besides, you aren't the only one with a prophesy hanging over your head, certainly not the only one to do with Tom's impending destruction. And also Harry, dear, you've got something on your chin." She wiped it off and Harry blushed. He felt like Ron on the platform before his first year with his dirty smut on his nose.

"Anyhow," she took the purse off her arm and started searching through it. When she next spoke her voice was venomous and steamed hatred. "Tom really needs to take better care of his horcruxes. I mean, I already destroyed Nagini just this morning." She pulled a fang out of her purse. "Here's her main fang."

"How did you find her?" Ron asked in undisguised awe, as Harry just stared. THay'd been searching for Nagini's cage for 4 months now.

"Oh, Sally's, _Salazar's,_"She explained to her audience, "necklace tells you where the others are if you ask it nicely. _They're all gone aren't they_", she asked the necklace which responded with a drawn out yes.

Ron and Hermione were watching her in shock, but Harry didn't understand why. She'd only asked it a question, it's not like she had spoken another… Ohhhhhhh.

Ron finally spoke in an emotionless voice. "I didn't know you spoke parseltongue Cat."

"Oh yeah, my dad could. Best kept family secret it was. My Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great- Great-Grandfather married a Gaunt and we've all been able to speak parseltongue ever since. But we were a good family and people would look at us differently if they found out. Guess I'm kinda like you, eh Harry. Parseltongue, but not evil. Dad was just the same. You'd have got along great if he wasn't dead an all."

Harry was taking a moment to digest this. Other than Voldemort, he'd never met a parseltongue before. She and he seemed to have so much in common. Both orphans, both parseltongues, both had prophecies about Voldemorts doom written about them, both destroyed horcruxes. Oh well, there was always a first time for everything. He decided to find out more about her.

"So," he questioned. "What's the deal with the tattoos?"

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A/N Sorry for taking so long with this chapter. Why does no one seem to read this one? My one-shot has had more hits, and certainly more reviews. Might even have more story alerts. 


	4. Tattoos

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**Tattoos**

"How many have you seen?" she asked, not at all thrown by this unusual question.

"Two, the moon one and the paw print. Did they hurt?"

"Well, they did, but not as much as my others."

Ron was staring in unflattering disbelief. "How many did you get? And what did Charlie get and where?"

Cat smiled at Ron, who in turn blushed, causing Hermione to glare at Cat, who gave her a very convincing 'who me?' expression. "Charles got a snitch on his shoulder. I've got four. The moon on my left shoulder, the paw print on my right shoulder-blade, a tiger-lily on my right hip and these antlers," she turned round and pulled up the back of her top exposing a detailed tattoo of two antlers just above her trousers, around the base of her spine.

"Why do you always call him Charles?" Ron asked. "He calls you Catherine too and if anyone else did you'd hex them three ways from sideways. I mean, you're not dating. The only time I know of you being more than friends were when we had truth or dare and you and him were stuck in the attic for half-an-hour."

Cat looked even more amused at this comment. Harry wondered if it was possible to grin so much it fell off your face, cause if so she was well on the way. He realised that they were all sitting as though round a camp-fire, sharing stories. He was brought back to reality when Hermione elbowed him gently, Cat was about to respond and it looked interesting.

Her voice dripped with sarcasm so strongly that it felt like you could feel it, dribbled over your shoulders. "Oh Charlie and I were never more than friends. We just _liked _investing each others tonsils in broom-closets." Her wicked grin was back and Ron looked like he was going to faint. Hermione had him supported on her arm for the moment. "We dated from his fourth year. I thought Bill would have told by _now_. I didn't realise he was that afraid of me. He was the only one of your brothers who found out, and the only one other than Charlie I've ever snogged, and I threatened to hex him if he ever told. I didn't think he'd have kept it up this long though." She swept her long waterfall of hair behind her, seemingly oblivious to the way it blew slightly in the wind.

"So you see," she explained airily. "It's our little terms of endearment. Though it's not like we're dating anymore. He went of to play with dragons and I worked on my NEWTs and quit my Chaser position on the Quidditch team." Her tone was wistful and her smile forced. "Quidditch just wasn't the same without him. Though," she shook her head and grinned at Harry, the twinkle in her eyes familiar, yet distant. "You could certainly give him a run for his money. You are better than him, but it just wouldn't be the same.

"Back to the important things. All the horcruxes are destroyed. We can – no – we will kill Moldiesnort. And we will get started right now."

Harry was curious about what she had planned, but a feeling of warmth was spreading up his abdomen. Voldemort could die. He could kill him. Everything could be over. Soon.

"So," Harry enquired, with one of the first smiles he'd had since Bill's wedding. "What have we got to do?"

Three hours later they appeared in an alley way. Cat smiled. She'd lead them all there, with Side-along-apparration. She must be pretty powerful to have side-alonged three people at once.

She transfigured their clothes into club clothes, making her particularly skimpy and giving Hermione a skirt that Harry wondered if it was originally a belt. Whatever it was, it made Ron stare and Hermione blush.

"Right guys," Catherine appeared to be mobilising her troops. "What's our cover?"

Hermione seemed to have accepted the skimpiness of her outfit. "Ron and I are a young couple who are going to spend the time near the door." Ron turned crimson at these words, while Cat did glamour charms on him to give him short brown hair and a tan.

"And me and you," Harry continued, while shrinking their clothes and belongings and putting them in his pockets and nodding in Cat's direction. "Are a couple of friends looking for a good time. You find the guy and I go and sit with you. You drop the info and collect some and then we signal the others and go. Sound about right?" His hair, he suddenly realised, was blonde, and Cat appeared to be attacking his scar with what he could only guess was concealer.

Cat's grin was the last thing Harry remembered before being dragged into the club. Large shapes of people blocked his view and all he could hear was the steady thump of the music. He'd only been to a club once before when they went on that police mission with Hermione's muggle aunt. Grateful for the hand pulling the front of his black shirt, he suddenly realised he was at some seats by the bar. Clamouring on one, he heard Cat order them both a drink. She obviously wasn't a newcomer to clubs.

"So," she started, smirking over her drink. "How many clubs have you ever been in?"

What a bizarre question, Harry thought. "One," he answered hesitantly. "When we were in Albania. Hermione's aunt is a muggle police officer and said we could stay with her if we went on one assignment with her. Hermione had sprained her ankle and Ron offered to stay behind and look after her. I went with. She was pretending to be a hooker actually." Harry blushed. That had been an embarrassing evening.

Cat seemed to be contemplating something, until her gaze focussed on the door. Harry didn't even have to turn round to realise what it was. Their man had entered.

Cat slid off the chair like a mermaid off a rock. She tugged Harry to follow and grabbed the three drinks she'd just ordered.

"Hi. I'm Hetty Kirkland. Can we sit here?" At his nod they took seats and she offered him a drink. Her gushing tone startled Harry, but only made the man smile.

"Hello," the man said, eyes taking in every inch of Cat's … _exotic _appearance as they darted around. His chiselled face looked like something off a tacky romance novel and his deep black hair fell elegantly into his cold brown eyes. There was no warmth in those eyes, Harry felt, as his lips twisted into a charming smile.

"Hang on," Cat exclaimed, her voice falsely cheery, yet something about it told Harry this was something she'd done before. "I swear you went to Hogwarts." Her eyes seemed to be trying to place him, yet it seemed rather fake, if you looked at it closely. Her heavily made up lids widened in startled realisation. "You were a year above me, in Slytherin. I had such a crush on you back then; though I doubt you knew I existed. You dated one of my dorm-mates. Uhhh … Gertie Rikes that was her name. She was heart broken when you broke it off. But, I mean, if you play with matches you're gonna get burned." Her voice had turned seductive, making the guy smirk.

"Gregory Jackson. Such a pleasure to make your acquaintance again. Would you like to dance, that is, of your boyfriend doesn't mind." He took her hand and led her on to the floor, leaving Harry to keep an eye around. He hoped this was over soon. Ron and Hermione seemed to be having an interesting conversation, and Cat was having a slow dance. He sipped his drink and saw Cat coming towards him, looking like the cat who swallowed the cream.

"Got it," She stated, answering his unasked question. He followed her out the door, grabbing the others and dragging them with her.

They stood outside the club, the crescent moon matching the tattoo Cat scratched subconsciously. They knew where to go now. Everyone focussed on the road in London where Harry's property was located. Harry looked up. There was the house that held memories he would give anything to relive. 12 Grimmauld Place. Where they needed to be. And where he never wished to be again.

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**A/N: Sorry for the shortness of the previous chapters. Thanks to heather1021 and redroseternity for the reviews. I really appreciate them. I'll try and update soon.**


	5. It's time

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**It's Time**

Harry and Cat took the lead as they approached the house. The door opened the moment it saw them, though Harry assumed this was something to do with the fact he was the new owner of the house. Grateful to having been there when the new fidadelius was cast, he entered, wand at the ready, to his home.

Ron took the lead, hurrying into the kitchen where they heard a joyful yell of "Ronald!" Hermione followed him, after a quick glance at Cat's haughty, bored expression. She barely made it to the door, however, before she was grabbed in a bear-hug. Mrs Weasley was famous for them.

When she had finished squeezing all the air out of Hermione's lungs, Molly (as Harry had now been asked to call her) turned to Harry. After a good long stare (during which he was very glad he was good at cooking charms) he was also pulled into a tight hug. Then she turned to Cat.

From Cat's hurried speech, Harry had understood that Mrs Weasley had practically adopted her. Yet as soon as Molly saw her, her wand was out and pointed directly at Cat's heart. "Who ARE you?" Molly's voice was strong and deadly and Harry had no problem believing that Molly Weasley could get _Voldemort _to curl up in fear at that voice.

Cat, on the other hand, was completely relaxed by the voice. The corners of her mouth were twitching and the bored look in her eyes was replaced by a twinkle that could have given _Dumbeldore _a run for his money. "Why Mrs Weasley," her voice was sweet and full of foe horror. "How could you not recognise me?" Her hands were over her eyes in her melodramatic fake crying. "I'm so hurt."

Molly turned to Ron who was still freaked out by her first speech as he shrank into the corner. "Who is she?"

"Mrs Weasley, I am Cat. You know, the girl you practically adopted, Charlie's best friend, stayed with you every holiday till Charlie decided that getting caught on fire was more fun than getting a normal job and I got a flat. Ring any bells. Oh, and the code word is Serpent Flame" Molly's face shone with sudden recognition at what Harry guessed to be a code they'd made, but then her eyes narrowed and her mouth became a slit.

"CATHERINE! You walk off and we don't hear from you for years, no idea if you're OK, and then you suddenly turn up with goodness knows how many tattoos and a face caked in make-up and clothes that barely cover half your skin. You look like a … a … a Lady of the Night!" Ron snickered. "For goodness sake, what were you thinking?" Molly's rant came to an end there when Cat hugged her and said "Great to see you too, Mum."

Harry hadn't seen Molly grin in far too long and was so glad that this war could be over soon. The overwhelming feeling of guilt came over him. They would all be in danger. Suddenly, he felt someone by his shoulder and heard Cat whisper in his ear "You can always think things are your fault, but in the end it won't do anything except cause you more pain when you push everyone you care about away. I've done that before and all it did was made me miss them, and reopen wounds that took along time to close." Her smile was that of experience and pain beyond her years. He saw the hurt, guilt bubbling under again and realised that this would be him in a few years if he didn't let go of the guilt now. Being eaten away by the pain and hurt of past sins. She was letting go, but years later than she could or should be. He saw that. He knew what she was telling him. The past is gone; he couldn't change it, no matter how much he wished, all he could do was accept it and move on. Distancing himself from others wouldn't help him, or anyone else. Everyone had told him this and he hadn't believed them, but for once, he decided that she was absolutely right. Ginny, he'd left her. And he'd missed her every second of every day. He shouldn't have pushed her away. It may have been noble, but it was one of the stupidest things he had ever done, including going off to the Department of Mysteries. She didn't want him anymore. It was all his own fault.

He followed the others to the kitchen where Mrs Weasley was serving everyone large portions of soup and bread. Hungrily, the four devoured everything in front of the in seconds, ignoring Molly's disapproving looks and tight lips.

When they finished, after so many servings Harry lost count, they turned to Mrs Weasley. Harry decided to start. "Molly, can you call an order meeting? I know it's a full moon so some can't come, but could you call as many others as possible?"

Molly looked at them suspiciously but a silver tigress jumped out of her wand and left through the window. "Now children," she stated, suspicion soaked into her caring features. "What is this about?"

Harry looked at the others, knowing the grim satisfaction on their features was mirrored in his own. He turned to the only motherly figure he had ever really known. "We can kill Voldemort." He answered.

Mrs Weasley stared at them as if daring them to say something to the contrary. Slowly, a small smile graced her features, growing larger by the second. "He can die." She kept repeating under her breath. When, moments later, Arthur entered the kitchen, she threw herself on him and gave him a big hug. The look on Mr Weasley's face made everyone in the kitchen chuckle.

Harry and Cat collected the plates and bowls while Molly told Arthur the full story and Hermione and Ron avoided each others eyes, blushing when they accidentally made eye contact. Cat charmed them to wash themselves.

Harry suddenly remembered the comment Cat had made that he wanted to ask her about. He turned to her. "Cat," he asked. "What did you mean earlier when you said 'how was the slut in Albania'?"

Cat chuckled under her breath and pulled out an old Daily Prophet. On the front page was a picture of him sitting in that Albanian night club, talking to Hermione's aunt – who was unfortunately dressed as a hooker at the time – and holding her hand. Harry sighed. Well that explained why Ginny had got a boyfriend. She thought he found someone else.

Interrupting his thoughts, the majority of the order walked in and sat at the table, magically expanded by Mrs Weasley.

After everyone had been informed of the reason for the meeting, Cat stood up. Everyone turned to her. She seemed born to lead. "Listen up OK." Her voice permeated every inch of the area. It made Harry smile to see her usually relaxed face serious and stern. "Tomorrow, at 10 in the morning, Voldemort and all his Death Eaters will come to Hogsmeade. We have to be prepared. We are going to go there and we are going to kick his arse once and for all!"

No one could sleep well that night. As day broke, every one of the Order members gathered together in the kitchen, wands at the ready. Cat's emotional and heartfelt speech pumped everyone up, though many me seemed to find her rather tight clothes more interesting. And Harry knew that if he came out of this alive, Voldemort wouldn't. It was time.


	6. I guess it

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**I Suppose it's a Finale**

Catherine and Harry were the last to leave the overcrowded kitchen. Before they left to apparate, Cat pulled Harry back. She looked straight into his eyes and stated "It's not murder. It is killing, like a dog with rabies. It is necessary, but if you feel you can't do it then I will."

Harry was more than shocked. She was willing to kill Voldemort if he didn't want to. "But … the prophesy."

Cat gave a harsh laugh that seemed to hang in the air. "Load of baloney. I could kill Voldemort if I did the killing curse and it hit him. That's life. Or death in his case." A strained smile appeared on her face.

Harry thought. This was a way out. He didn't _have _to do it. But, he slowly realised, he _needed _to do it. To give him closure. "I don't need anyone to protect me from what I have to do." He explained.

Cat smiled a real smile. "Good. Tell me if you change your mind though, my offer will _always_ stand" Together, they walked out of the house and apparated to the field.

Harry, Cat, Ron and Hermione sat in the middle and waited. The others hid. They knew what to do. They knew what to expect.

Suddenly, the battle, which Harry knew would be his final battle – as he would either win (and never be involved in battle again) or lose (and die) - began.

Curses thrown left and right missed him by millimetres. Yards from him, Tonks was attacking Dolohov. She appeared to be winning. Harry hoped she was.

Cat was fighting someone he'd never seen before and Ron was attacking Lucius Malfoy. Then something made his blood run cold. Bellatrix Lestrange was being attacked by … Neville Longbottom. Neville was at school, he was not supposed to even know this battle was happening. And if he could get out of school to fight, that meant so could … He groaned and ducked an oncoming killing curse (which, incidentally, hit Bellatrix in the back, and was sent by her husband), sending a _stupefy_ in the same direction, hoping it hit it's target.

Then an oncoming Peter Pettigrew took his full attention. "Hello Peter," Harry's voice was so cold that the rat shivered and Harry no longer recognised it as his own. "You know, you never were very good at keeping promises." A glare silenced what the traitor's mouth had begun to form. "I stopped them from killing you, ya know. Maybe I'll just do it myself. Remus is too tired to do it, and Sirius is too dead, but I'll do it."

A cold voice sent shivers up his spine. He wished he'd never heard this voice, ever. Not since the first time, when he was just one year old. "You really think you can kill Potter. You don't have what it takes."

The _avada kedavra _Harry then sent at Pettigrew stopped Voldemort's tormenting in a moment. But it made Harry feel sick. He had actually taken someone's life. He was no better than Voldemort himself. Or was he?

He remembered what Cat had said. "It's not murder. It is killing, like a dog with rabies." He turned to Voldemort and suddenly felt pity for him. He was not alive, not human. He wondered when the misguided boy trying to live forever was replaced by the evil that he was now confronted with. Somewhere inside he felt that he didn't care.

"Well hello Tom, fancy seeing you here." The sarcasm seemed to hang in the air. Harry didn't even bother to bow. He saw a flash of red. Ginny. She was against five death eaters at once. "STUPEFY!" he roared at Voldemort.

Not bothering with why Voldemort wasn't cursing him to oblivion, Harry stunned one of the Death eaters she was fighting, and went to help her, fighting with her back to back. No words were necessary. They were doing what was necessary. Arguments would be settled later. Now they were to fight.

Several dead or stunned Death Eaters later, Harry and Ginny split up, going in different directions. Harry hoped she would be OK.

He remembered Voldemort. What had happened to him? Why hadn't he come after Harry immediately? He hurried back to see Cat and Voldemort in a one on one duel. Somehow, this didn't surprise him as much as he thought it should.

Cat was laughing at Voldemort who was staring at her in complete shock. "Now Voldy, dear, I only thought that since I know all your secrets, you should at least know one of mind."

"Who are you?" Voldemort's voice was icy and powerful, yet soaked in suspicion.

"You're worst nightmare," she hissed in what Harry recognised as parseltongue. "But don't worry, I won't kill you. I could, but I honestly can't be bothered." She nodded at Harry and he saw mental images of what she wanted him to do. _Attack, _those messages said. _Attack before he sees you, make the most of the element of surprise … or you might not make anything ever again._

Harry yelled the disarming spell and it hit Voldemort's shield. It bounced off, but distracted him from Cat. "Ahhh, Mr Potter is back. What a surprise?" The snake-like slits in the seas of red narrowed at Harry's stance. "You don't honestly think that you can kill me, do you?"

Harry simply stared him out, not bothering whether Voldemort thought he could do it or not. Cat; Ginny; the Weasleys; Ron; Hermione; Remus; … Dumbeldore; Sirius; his parents. They all thought he could do it. He knew they did. And right then, that was enough.

Blood pumped through his veins and his voice came out strong and harsh. "Why Tom, you actually think you can kill _me_." He ducked a purple light. "Now, now," he sighed, shooting another spell from his wand, "Play nice."

And so it continued, trading curses, insults, once even physical blows (though that was Harry with a conjured stone warrior). The sword Harry had spent many hours learning to use reflected spells as well as working in harmony with his wand. Thoughts of Ginny spurred him on to greater heights, though no spells actually hit their targets. Conjured shields, last minute ducks and shield spells took care of that.

The battle wore on, fights braking out all around. Harry and Voldemort were the only two to have been fighting just each other the whole way though. Harry was glad for his Quidditch reflexes as they kept him from getting tired. The adrenaline rush he'd felt at the beginning of the fight hadn't even begun to wear off.

He could see Cat fighting five Death Eaters at once. She was very powerful and her hair was beginning to bush up again. He idly wondered what that was about before ducking exceedingly quickly to dodge a cruciatus. He really needed to pay attention; he scolded himself, sending back a cutting hex.

Others around paid no mind to the Dark Lord and Harry Potter's final duel. Therefore, most missed Harry draw in his breath and fire the killing curse. Most missed Voldemort dodge just a second too late. Nobody missed Voldemort's scream of anguish just before he died. No one missed Harry James Potter faint, hand's held over his scar, seconds later.

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A/N Thanks for the reviews, they are really appreciated. I hope to update this once a week, so look out for an update next weekend. 


	7. I hate hospitals

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**I Hate Hospitals**

Harry woke up to find everything startlingly clear. He had never been able to see this well, even with his glasses. From the conversation around him, it sounded like no one had noticed he was awake. This made it very easy to spy on them. He knew that his friends loved him but they had a tendency to keep things from him if they thought he couldn't deal with them. Hiding Rita Skeeter's article – or trying to, anyway – just before the third task was proof of that.

Ginny tended to give it to him straight; if he was moping she would be the one to yell at him until he sorted himself out. But, he sternly reminded himself, he threw that down the drain. It was his own fault he missed her, his own fault she had a new boyfriend.

He turned away from his self-criticizing when he heard Ginny's voice. "I just wish he'd stop being so lazy and WAKE UP!"

Then Hermione's voice replied, "Ginny, it's not his fault that he had so much pain he's been out for a month."

Ginny's reply had him stifling a chuckle. "Oh yes. Poor little Harry nearly kills himself and it's not his fault. Honestly Hermione, everyone who will ever come out of the hospital has except lazy bones over there. The healers don't know why he hasn't come round." She appeared to be pacing. "And yes his scars disappeared so it may be affecting his body as well, but that is no reason for _worrying_ us like that. The idiot could at least open his eyes ONCE. Urgh" She appeared to now be muttering to herself.

Ron finally spoke up. "No one we know died, thank goodness. Harry would never forgive himself if someone in our family died."

Then came Remus' voice, "Hang on a second, he was almost chuckling when Ginny was talking. Harry, are you awake?"

Harry decided to come clean. He sat up, opened his eyes and smiled. "Hi guys."

Ginny was glaring at him, Hermione appeared unsure whether she should be angry or happy, Ron was smiling and shaking his head and Remus was grinning. Harry didn't think he'd ever seen Remus grin before, excluding the time at Fleur's wedding when he'd gotten drunk and kissed Tonks, causing most to yell 'Finally'.

Then Hermione handed him his glasses. "The healers got them here. How are you feeling?"

Harry reached over, grinning, grabbed the glasses and snapped them in half. Hermione was the only one to respond (by frowning. She obviously didn't appreciate her effort being put down like that). "I feel GREAT!" Harry enthused, making everyone stare at him in even stronger disbelief. "I've never felt this good in my life. Well practically never." He blushed remembering his and Ginny's first kiss. "Anyway, I don't need my glasses. I can see better than I could with them. I feel stronger, like my magic is stronger, like I'm more powerful. I don't know what it is."

Hermione appeared to be going over calculations in her head. "Well," she started, causing Ron to groan. "Maybe Voldemort was drawing some of his energy from you. Maybe he was blocking as much of your power as he could, which would also explain why he needed your blood. He was already drawing _some_ energy from you. And I noticed that you seemed slightly weaker after he returned. I thought it might be slightly to do with the depression you went into, but this makes much more sense."

Everybody stared at her. How DID she work that out so quickly, Harry wondered, thinking it over. It did make perfect sense.

"Wow," was all Harry could manage. Everyone else seemed rather frozen. Hermione herself appeared shocked at her own intelligence.

Remus finally managed to close his gaping jaw and promptly burst out laughing. He was pointing at Ron whose response was to immediately blush bright red, yet Harry could certainly not see what was so funny. "So," Ron said, trying to turn the attention away from himself – and what was so funny that it had normally controlled Remus in stitches. "What about the Patronus? Wasn't that supposed to be a really hard spell?"

"Ahhhhhhh, but the Patronus is conjured by a happy memory," supplied Ginny. "A feeling of love, the one thing that Voldemort could never understand, and the one thing that stopped Harry from being possessed. So, maybe that is what kept Voldemort away, during the periods when he needed to cast the spell."

Ron was hit over the head for his next comment. "Turning into a right little Hermione, you are."

After a few minutes of good natured jibing, Ron and Hermione went to get some food. Ginny, instantly business like turned to Remus. "Soooooo, what was so funny."

"Oh, that," Remus' unconcerned voice seemed to reek of insincerity. "Well, Ron was mouthing 'that's my girl' during it, and Hermione was – obviously – completely clueless. Those two are just so obliviously obvious (such a cool phrase – and the name of a story by KeeperOfTheMoon, hope they don't mind). And what's really funny is," a chuckle escaped, "she probably wouldn't believe he fancied her, even if he said it out loud!"

That got the other two laughing as well.

Several days later, the healers finally admitted that Harry _was_ ready to leave – and that his eye-sight was completely healed. They hadn't had any of the ideas Hermione had, as they also couldn't explain any of the changed that had come over Harry's body. Harry and the gang decided not to enlighten them to their ideas. It wasn't necessary.

While in hospital, Harry learned that when he'd killed Voldemort, everyone alive with the Dark Mark was instantly hit with enormous agony that didn't go away for 24 hours. This made it easy to round up the Death Eaters, as St Mungo's had a special machine to direct them to people in that kind of pain. They even found Snape and Malfoy, who'd been on the run, though Draco was eventually let off charges. All others with the Dark Mark ended up in Azkaban, which was newly secured.

Because of the agony, the battle hadn't lasted any longer and deaths were minimal, considering. All those Harry knew personally had survived, though not without several days to a week and a half in hospital.

He'd been visited by so many people; Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill and Fleur, Fred and George, Tonks, Professor McGonagall (or Minerva as he'd been asked to call. As she'd said, "We are no longer student and pupil, Potter. There is no point in calling me Professor."), Neville and quite a few more. Today was the day to go home.

Harry was really excited to be leaving the hospital. There wasn't much for him to do there, really. There were only so many times one could stare out the window or repeat conversations with the nurses, as visitors had only certain times when they could visit, particularly him. Those summers with the Dursleys meant he didn't get bored as easily, but even so. Thinking of the Dursleys reminded him that he had left some of his belongings there when he had left the previous summer. Harry supposed he would have to go back there at some point to retrieve them.

Remus met him at his room and helped him carry the few belongings – his friends had brought him those for those hours when he had nothing to do – and clothes to wear. They met Hermione, Ron and (the one who got Harry's heart fluttering) Ginny in the lobby and they Apparated (Ginny having passed her test during the year) to outside the Burrow.

Mr and Mrs Weasley met him on the doorstep with glowing smiles. It was obvious that they were glad that this was the first place he came. After all, Harry thought, this was his real home. In fact, that was what Ginny muttered in his ear when he passed. "Welcome home, Harry. Welcome home."

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A/N So sorry it took me so long to update. Reviews are really appreciated and I'll try and make my chapters longer from now on. In the mean time, next chapter, we see Catherine interact with Charlie, and watch her meet Remus and Tonks 


	8. Okay then

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**Oookay then**

Harry was ambushed the moment he walked through the door by a torrent of black hair. Returning the hug awkwardly – he'd never been very good with physical contact – he looked at the person hugging him. It took him a couple of minutes to recognise this person as Catherine (mostly by her indecipherable mumblings). An unfamiliar voice called, over Cat's head, "Let the guy breathe Catherine. He has just got out of hospital you know."

Cat stopped hugging him to playfully punch the man on the arm. "Charles, unless you want me to beat you up _again_," several snickers sounded, "keep your trap," she reached over and ran a finger over his mouth, "SHUT."

Harry took a look around. The man next to Cat – sporting a black eye that looked rather recent (definitely more recent than the Final Battle) – was obviously Ron's brother Charlie, behind him were the twin terrors of Fred and George, who were next to Ginny's eldest brother Bill and his wife – whose pregnancy was beginning to show. Ginny herself was now standing on her other side. He noticed that she'd curled her hair. The nice feeling in his stomach felt like someone poured cold water on it when he realised it was probably for a date.

Reprimanding himself for letting her go, Harry spotted Mr and Mrs Weasley, both of whom he smiled at. Feeling someone poke him in the back, he moved out of the way to let Ron and Hermione in. Harry took one glance at the looks of longing they were giving each other and vowed that if they didn't get together by Christmas, he'd just lock them in a broom closet and be DONE with it.

Tonks – who had arrived moments after them – and Remus followed them in. Cat's squeal of "Remmmmyy" as she ran across the room was the only sign that she had moved before she flung herself on a surprised Remus. "Oh my God, I've missed you sooooo much. I haven't seen you in all these years … man you look old. All the transformations I missed. I so sorry, honey. I didn't try hard enough to stop them taking him away and I never told you the truth and … It's all so hard. Oh Remmy." And to everyone's surprise, she burst into tears.

Remus, however, looked to Harry to be in complete and utter shock. He didn't appear to have any idea who the hysterical woman was! As her speech went on though, he was obviously piecing together the clues. Tonks, standing next to him, was obviously not very happy about the very pretty woman who'd draped herself all over her boyfriend and called him 'honey' (who would be?).

It was a shock to everyone when Remus muttered "Kitty?" When she nodded into his chest, though, he too burst into tears. "I've missed you Kitty. I've missed you so much. I would have seen you, but the Ministry wouldn't tell me who fostered you and kept asking what my parental right, as a werewolf, was."

"You should have said godfather," Cat sniffled into Remus' chest.

That stopped Remus from crying. "But, I'm not…" he shakily replied.

Cat seemed to have recovered herself too. She pulled back from the hug, smiling wide, and yelled, in a sing-song voice, "Yes you are!" She then turned to Tonks, who looked more than a little relieved that the relationship was completely platonic, "And aren't you going to introduce me to your girlfriend? What happened to your 'I'm a werewolf and no one should or will ever love me' phase? Not that I'm not happy it's over, it was REALLY annoying. Whats-her-name Andrews used to practically throw herself over you and you never noticed – thank Merlin, that woman drove me batty."

Harry was the first person to regain the use of his throat. Everyone else had apparently decided to imitate goldfish. "Catherine, Kitty, Cat, whatever your name is, mind explaining what's going on and how you know Remus to the rest of us?"

"Oh, well that's simple," the large grin on Cat's face was replaced by a mischevious smirk to match the twinkle in her eyes. "Padfoot adopted me and made Moony my godfather." Her eyes stared into Harry's as though daring him to say he was lying, but he was too shocked to breathe properly, let alone argue with anyone.

Harry missed the rest of the conversation and didn't think proper thoughts until he was called for dinner. It was only then he noticed that Ginny had guided him to the couch and had been rubbing his shoulder during the time his mind had been on a short holiday. Maybe she did care about him after all.

* * *

A/N HAPPY (insert what you will be celebrating here) Please review. Will update in New Year 


	9. Truth or Dare

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**Truth or Dare**

The meal that followed was one of the best Harry could ever remember having. That was probably due to Ginny sitting next to him and stroking his arm at odd intervals. Cat was chattering away, and about half-way through the meal, she looked up and her eyes caught Harry's. Her head tilted questioningly and he knew she wanted him to express to her how he felt about Sirius being her step-dad. He wanted a full explanation, obviously, but other than that, it didn't really bother him THAT much.

He gave her a small nod and a smile and he saw her let out a sigh and return his smile. Ginny had obviously noticed the exchange, as she gave him a grin and rested her hand on his leg. He knew his smile was in danger of becoming extremely goofy, so he turned his full attention back to his food, and began to pick up the conversation to his right.

Fred and George were talking excitedly, and their conversation was obviously important.

"The games ready," Fred started.

"We should ask Cat if she could…"

"…Get the others to test it? Yeah, she's great at that …"

"… Type of thing? Certainly. Do you remember that time when she …"

"… Convinced us to learn the Macarena? How could I forget?"

"I hope the others aren't too opposed to Truth or Dare."

"We'll have to get mum and dad out the way, though."

"Of course." George finished. They then joined in Charlie, Bill and Fleur's conversation on baby names, inserting crazy ones here and there, like Tortoise, Rex or Spock (Harry wondered who'd let them watch Star Trek).

After desert, Fred and George held a quick whispered conversation with Cat, before she went round, saying something to everyone but Molly and Arthur. When she stood next to Harry, she whispered simply, "Come back down at 10 o'clock or I'll come and find you and bring you down in your most embarrassing underwear." She smiled at him and was gone a moment later.

He wondered over to Ron and Hermione. They were laughing; Hermione even had tears in her eyes, about something Ron had said. Harry decided to broach the subject of Sirius and his mysterious step-daughter.

"Hey, you two," he began, causing them to turn and look at him with bright smiles. "Can you believe that Cat told us who her step-dad was?"

"She did?" Hermione asked, too curiously to be lying.

Ron looked just as puzzled. "Of course she did," was Harry's bewildered response. "Just after she told Moony she was his goddaughter. I asked her what was going on and she said…"

"Well there's your problem," Hermione replied with a condescending smile that Ron had once, when he was very drunk mind, admitted to finding sexy. "She said it in parseltongue."

A gasp behind Harry alerted their attention to the fact that someone was listening to their conversation. Harry turned round to see Ginny with her eyes beginning to well up. She turned round and ran from the room and Harry followed without hesitation. No one seemed at all puzzled by this, as though they had been expecting it, and no one else tried to follow.

She stopped in the garden and Harry caught up with her wordlessly and pulled her into a hug. He kissed the top of her head, revelling in the feeling of being close to her. He knew that it was probably very insensitive to enjoy hugging her as she steadily soaked his shirt in tears, but he knew that she wouldn't want to be close to him again.

When she calmed down enough, they sat together and looked at the stars that were beginning to come out. Finally brave enough, Harry asked, "Why did you cry?"

Ginny looked at him, her chocolate brown eyes shimmering with tears she had left to shed, "Because I understood her. I couldn't speak it when I started Hogwarts, I couldn't speak it in second or third year, last time I saw a snake, but I can now."

Harry gathered her up again, forgetting that she wasn't single, or with him. His only thoughts were that the love of his life was upset and he would do anything in his power to make her smile.

Looking at his watch, he realised it was 10 o'clock. Maybe a game of truth or dare would be exactly what Ginny needed. "Gin," he said into her auburn curls. "The game's starting. I wouldn't have said anything only I think its truth or dare."

Ginny escaped the hug and gave him a small watery smile. "Thanks," she said, as quietly as Harry had, as though the peace of the moment would be broken if the more than whispered. Grasping his hand in her own, they headed back into the living room of the Burrow, questions about the snake language left outside.

They were the last to arrive, everyone else seated in a circle. There was Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Cat, Tonks, Charlie, and Remus. Harry sat down between Cat and Tonks, and pulled Ginny down next to him. George pulled out a stone from his pocket and said four words.

"Let the game begin"

* * *

A/N I was going to include the next chapter in here, but it's been so long since I last updated that I thought I'd update sooner. PLEASE REVIEW! Please! 


	10. Truth or Dare Contd

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**Truth or Dare contd.**

Harry and Ginny exchanged a silent look before George (Harry had finally learned to tell the twin's apart easily) took their attention.

"Now guys, I trust you all know how to play 'Truth or Dare' but there are different variations soo…"

Fred picked up his twin's train of thought. "These are ours. One person asks the person of their choice…"

"Except the person who just asked them." Cat interjected.

"Truth or Dare," finished George. This stone we've invented will turn purple if you lie, green if you tell the truth…" The stone in his hand continued to glow neon green as he placed it in the centre. "… And striped if you leave some of the story out. The penalty for refusing a truth or dare is removing an article of clothing."

"And on that note," Fred said, grinning wildly, "Harry, truth or dare?"

Harry paled. He did NOT trust the twins. "Truth" he muttered quickly.

"Who was the girl in Albania?" Fred responded instantly.

Harry blushed. He'd wondered when this would come up again. "That was Hermione's aunt in the picture." Remus snickered as the stone glowed striped. "She's a detective – kind of like a muggle auror – and at the time, she was in disguise as a prostitute." Remus was all out laughing now, Tonks was grinning and all the other contestants looked relieved. Ginny – Harry sought her eyes – looked … happy.

Turning to Remus, his face still red, he simply asked, "Remus, truth or dare."

Obviously his years as a marauder were still affecting his reflexes as he answered instinctively, "Truth."

Harry could feel himself giving a mischievous smile that seemed to unnerve both Remus and Cat. "What happened between you and Tonks just before Dumbledore's funeral?"

Remus blushed and took off a shoe while Tonks avoided her laughing companions' eyes. "Cat, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Kiss Harry."

Cat made a face and pulled her jumper over her head to reveal an overlarge t-shirt with a picture of a dragon on it that made Charlie blush and Ginny smirk. "No offence Harry, but I saw you being _born_. I can't kiss you when I saw you being born. That's … gross. Charlie, truth or dare?"

Harry couldn't blame him for choosing truth. The look on Cat's face was just as bad as the twins if not worse. He looked at Remus who looked like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. He blinked, looked again, rubbed his eyes, shook his head and joined in with teasing Charlie for admitting that his first crush had been on Madam Rosmerta.

Unsure what it meant, Harry continued to watch as Hermione was forced to admit that she had had a crush on Remus in third year. He was glad Ron had gone out of the room at that point for snacks. Tonight wasn't time for another of his 'jealous moments'.

And so the game continued. It got a bit boring after a while, so no one objected to Fred and George said he had another game for them to play.

"It's called 'I never'" Fred explained as George handed out the shot glasses. "and it's a muggle drinking game. Basically, everyone takes a turn to say 'I never did-something-or-other' and everyone who has, has to have a drink." He reached over into his bag and pulled out a bottle from the bag and put it in the centre.

"This bottle," George continued, having finished with the glasses. "is charmed to pour out the drinks to those who need them. So let's begin. I've never got a scar."

The bottle poured drinks to Harry, Ginny, Ron, Charlie, Tonks, Remus and Fred who all downed the drinks. Harry recognised it as fire-whiskey.

Ron, who was next, said "I've never got married." His smile was huge as Cat alone drank.

"What?" she exclaimed. "We got divorced. I was very, very drunk"

"I've never been caught kissing by a teacher." Hermione stated. Ron blushed red as his, Ginny's, Tonks' and Remus' filled. Remus' caught quite a few stares.

"I'll have you know," He responded. "That I have the record of the prefect with the most detentions in Hogwarts history."

Harry was still rather jealous at Ginny's drink. His mind conjured up images of her and Dean and her and Michael, but he pushed them away. He had no right to be jealous. He wasn't her boyfriend any more.

Cat was next and simply said "I've never gone out with someone to make someone else jealous."

Tonks, Charlie, Ginny, Ron and Hermione all had to drink after that one. Thinking of Lavender and Krum, Harry said his own. "I've never dated someone before I've kissed them." He blushed at all the stares; he hadn't meant to say that.

Everyone else, except Ron, drank to that one.

Ginny smiled cheekily as she said "I've never given anyone outside my family my clothes." Charlie glared at her as he drank, along with Hermione, Tonks and Remus.

By the end of the game, Harry was thankful he hadn't done much and so had remained fairly sober. Fred and George were singing – rather loudly and out of tune – a very rude song about a wizard from Norway. Tonks and Remus were attempting to leave, but kept bashing into things and collapsing in laughter. Hermione and Ron had sloped off a while back, when they'd got enough alcohol in their system to start snogging. Charlie and Cat were whispering on the sofa, as he helped Ginny to her room (AND LEFT).

It was about twenty minutes later when he realised he'd left one of his shoes downstairs. He was only half-way down the last flight of stairs when he hard the radio.

Cat, who'd obviously had a sobering charm cast on her, was cleaning up while Charlie fiddled with the radio. Quite suddenly, a new song came on.

Harry watched as Cat straightened up and turned round. "You did that on purpose," she jokingly accused as Charlie took hold of one hand and put another on her waist.

They waltzed beautifully together, obviously used to the steps and style. "You've improved," she muttered, smiling very wide. Harry thought she looked very happy, something he'd never associated with dancing.

Charlie lent in and kissed her, much to her evident enjoyment and Harry's shock. "I had a good teacher," he told Cat, once they'd broken apart.

Feeling like he was intruding on a private moment, Harry turned round and went back up the stairs. Something told him Cat wouldn't be sleeping in her own bed tonight.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long! My teachers have kept our noses to the grindstone with exams coming up and to top it off, I got writer's block. PLEASE REVIEW!


	11. The morning after

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**The Morning After**

The next morning, Harry had completely forgotten the end of the night before. As he wondered into the kitchen for breakfast, next to Ron and Hermione, he practically inhaled his food.

Molly bustled into the Kitchen from outside muttering about sons and how they never were awake when you wanted them to be. Having finished his meal, Harry volunteered to wake Charlie – the only one in the house.

Harry knocked loudly first. "Charlie, wake up. Breakfast is ready."

However, as there was no answer, he opened the door. That's when he remembered what he'd seen. He looked down. The bra he was standing on **definitely** didn't belong to Charlie (However, the boxers hanging off the lampshade appeared to). One look at the bed proved there were definitely two people there, one with long, black hair.

Face flaming red, Harry left the room as quickly as possible and shut the door, before leaning on it. That was _not _something he wanted to do again. EVER again.

It was at that moment that Ginny walked by. "Harry, what in the name of Merlin are you doing?" She asked, staring at him.

Mumbling something about waking Charlie up, Harry got off the door. And wished he hadn't.

"Oh I'll wake him up." Ginny said, as she opened the door. Ten seconds later, she too had shut the door and was leaning on it. "I never want to see that again"

"Don't I know it." Harry agreed. It was at that moment he realised how close he was to Ginny. Feeling his face heat up even more, Harry moved slightly. He could have sworn he heard Ginny sigh.

Together, they finally managed to wake him up by yelling at the door. Thankfully, Charlie didn't open it, so they just went back downstairs.

Cat appeared a few minutes later in rather rumpled clothes that she had worn yesterday.

Molly Weasley turned to look at her after she said good morning. "I didn't know you were going to stay the night. Did Charlie put you up?"

Both Ginny and Harry caught each others eyes and snorted, garnering some strange looks from the other occupants of the kitchen and a blush from Cat.

"Ummmm … yeah. He … sorted me out." Harry couldn't take it any more and burst out laughing, closely followed by Ginny. Cat had gone bright red; however, her neck wasn't as red as the mark on it. A wicked grin overtook Harry's features.

"Cat, is that a _bug_-bite on your neck?" Ron looked up and suddenly caught on to what had happened. His ears went red. Hermione and Mrs Weasley looked blankly up.

Ginny joined in, her own wicked grin firmly in place. "It doesn't look much like a _bug-_bite to me. Do you know what it is Hermione?"

Hermione had been looking at Cat for about half a minute when she said, in a completely bewildered voice, "Well, actually, I think it looks like a lo …… ohhhhh." Her face know a brilliant shade of scarlet, Hermione buried her face in Ron's shoulder, shaking with laughter.

Molly, however, appeared completely bewildered. "It looks like a what?"

Cat finally drew out her wand and tapped the mark on her neck, causing it to become the colour of her skin. "It's nothing," she mumbled. She might have got away with it, if Charlie hadn't come down at that very moment with two hickeys showing clearly on _his_ throat.

The entire kitchen was filled with the sound of laughter as Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione all gave in to the uncontrollable laughter filling them up. Charlie looked completely shocked, and that look got worse as Cat jumped up and tapped him twice on the neck, causing the love-bites to blend in with his skin.

It was, of course, at that moment that the twins arrived. "What's going on here?"

Molly chose that moment to swell up. "That is _exactly_ what I want to know."

The occupants of the kitchen all settled down and turned to Harry. Why did he have to be the one to make up an excuse (well he was hardly gonna tell her the truth was he)? "Ummm… it's just a trick that Fred taught us, isn't it Fred?"

Fred paled as everyone turned to him. "Yeah." He inserted, quickly relaxing into the mindset of a prankster hoping to avoid punishment. "It's just a spell, mum, nothing to worry about."

Molly didn't look convinced, but she left them with only one backwards glance.

"So," asked George eagerly. "What happened?"

"You want to answer that Kitty?" asked Harry, struggling to keep a straight face. "Or should I?"

Cat didn't look happy and Charlie, standing next to her, still looked like he was missing the punch-line of a very funny joke. "I stayed over last night." Cat finally said, causing Charlie to look at her like she was crazy and Harry and Ginny to catch each other's eyes again. The twins, however, didn't catch on that quick.

"And?" Fred asked.

"In Charlie's room." Cat explained. That got the twins attention.

"And they forgot to lock the bloody door," groused Ginny. Harry was very sympathetic. After all, he'd been there.

"And to check themselves for love-bites _before_ coming downstairs." Ron pushed in, before Hermione swatted him half-heartedly.

The twins looked at each other and grinned. "Looks like we have even more blackmail material on you."

Cat's face gained the confidence it had been missing for the last few hours. "Look, my step-dad put the Black in black-mail." Harry, Ginny and Charlie – the only ones who fully got the pun – snickered. "Anything you got on me, I got double on you."

Knowing this was probably true, the twins backed down and when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley reentered the kitchen, the whole lot of them were eating breakfast and chattering good-naturedly.

Once he was sure she'd finished, Harry turned to Ginny. "Can I talk to you outside? In private? It's kinda important."

Looking intrigued, Ginny followed him out to the field. Completely nervous, Harry turned to her. "Would you like to go on a date?"

* * *

A/N Sorry it took so long to update, I still maintain it was exams. Hopefully, my updates will be a bit more regular over the next couple of weeks. 


	12. You did what!

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**You did what!**

"Did you just ask me on a date?" Ginny looked completely flabbergasted.

Knowing that he couldn't deny it, Harry nodded.

Ginny took a while, but, finally, she got her voice back. "I'd love to Harry. Absolutely love to."

A sudden thought hit Harry. "What about Todd?"

Harry felt even more shocked when Ginny blushed. "I _might_ have made him up to make you jealous."

"You did what?" Harry couldn't believe it. Or ignore the voice in the back of his head that said _but it worked_.

"Well I couldn't let you have all the fun. Besides, there was no one in my year, your year or the year below called Todd. And I'd never date anyone younger."

Harry felt like an idiot. He had known that.

"You still want to go out with me, don't you?" Ginny looked worried, but Harry rushed to reassure her.

"Of course. I … I … love you." Harry didn't think he had ever said THOSE words in his life. Ginny blinked at him. Something told him that wasn't a good sign.

"Did you just say you loved me?" Seeing no way to back out of it (I mean what could he have said? He _gloved_ her?) Harry nodded silently and closed his eyes as though awaiting a rather nasty curse. Therefore he wasn't expecting Ms Weasley to leap at him and smother him with kisses. "Oh Merlin, you actually love me! I love you too."

Harry grinned and returned her embrace.

And then heard the audience behind going "Ahhhhhhh, how sweet."

If that wasn't enough, Harry was sure he heard Molly talking about weddings and proposals. Turning round, Harry saw everyone was there. Cat was shaking her head and grinning, Charlie was smiling, the twins were smirking and Ron and Hermione looked like they expected it to have happened sooner. Mrs Weasley was definitely talking about weddings, but Arthur was quite evidently trying to distract her. Of course, he wasn't very successful. Molly could be very stubborn when she wanted to be.

Ginny had run over to Hermione and they, along with Cat, were gushing about it as they hurried to the house. Molly was practically dragging Arthur inside as she had to call Bill and Fleur. Leaving Harry alone with a bunch of over-protective Weasley boys who had just been informed that he loved their only baby sister. And he didn't like the look in their eyes.

"Just so you know," George said, casually.

"If you hurt her," Ron continued, obviously having rehearsed this speech.

"We will be forced to kill you." Charlie finished, before they all dived on him in a hug. And he was sure he heard Fred say "Welcome to the family…again!"

It was only later that day that he finally got Cat alone to ask her about Sirius. Since his death, Harry rarely thought about the man who'd been as close to a father figure as he'd ever had. It was just too painful.

But when he ran into Cat alone by the lake, he knew that he had to, if only to help his forever on the edge sanity.

"Hey," she enthused when she noticed him there. "Congrats to you and Ginny."

He smiled, though he was sure he was probably blushing due to the memories of the past hour they'd spent alone.

"Look, can I talk to you about Sirius." The mood instantly changed, and Cat's face tensed up considerably.

"Of course," Cat finally said, her words contrasting with the doubt in her tone. "You want to know about him, why wouldn't you? He was practically your step-father, and you were very close and…"

"I got him killed," Harry interjected.

Cat sat up fully and stared at him. Her eyes seemed to weigh him up and find him wanting. "You did not kill Sirius." She was practically growling now. "Look, don't take this the wrong way but loads of people are responsible for his death. Bellatrix Lestrange, obviously, 'cause she cast the curse; Voldemort, 'cause he sent her; Remus and everyone else who went 'cause they let Sirius go and fight Death Eaters even though he was drunk; Sirius, because not only did he go and fight Death Eaters drunk, he taunted on; Snape because he took so long giving the message; Malfoy senior cause he organised it; Kreacher cause he tricked you; and yeah, you are partially responsible for his death, but so is everyone who was involved. Don't you dare go and blame this all on yourself!

"Sirius was the one who went, fully knowing it would put his life on the line. Sirius was the one who tried to find happiness at the bottom of a bottle. Sirius was the one who didn't think enough about the_ fucking_ consequences." She was crying now, big droplets from a screwed up face, and Harry had no idea what to do.

Part of him wanted to walk away from the woman who had insulted the memory of the closest thing he'd ever had to a father, yet part of him wanted to hug her because he'd brought up the topic and nothing she'd said had been a lie. One of the reasons he'd looked for anyone to blame just after Sirius' death was so that he wouldn't have to blame Sirius himself. He wasn't naïve enough to believe that Sirius wasn't an alcoholic, he'd usually been able to smell it on the man's breath.

So he did what came naturally and pulled her closer. Though not normally comfortable with physical contact, it seemed natural, like it always had with Ginny. However, it was in a different way to Ginny. With Ginny he wanted to kiss her and hug her and keep her close, with Catherine he wanted to hug her like a sister.

When he looked up he blinked. Her hair was red. He was sure it was. He blinked again and the hair was back to black. But he was so sure it had been red a few minutes ago…

"Sorry for getting all soppy on you," Cat filled in as she wiped her eyes, unconscious of the strange look he was giving her. "It's just a hard topic to talk about. I don't want you thinking that I didn't love Sirius, I did … I do. But sometimes I wish he hadn't been such a _berk_!" Harry couldn't help it. He snorted. She was obviously trying to be serious but the way she'd said berk.

"Look, is there anything else we can talk about, preferably something that's a bit less depressing."

Harry suddenly remembered something he'd been meaning to ask her since his talk with Ginny the day before. It felt like it had been so much more than a day since he'd returned from hospital. So much had happened.

"What do you know about parseltongue?"

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Sorry it took so long to get uploaded, I distract myself easily and wanted to get up to date on my other account. I hope to update sooner as I've got the next chapter pretty much planned out

Please Review!


	13. Discoveries and Explanations

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**Discoveries and Explanations**

"P … p … parseltongue?" Cat stuttered, looking at Harry with what appeared to be fear.

"Yeah." Harry was confused. Why was she so scared about talking about it all of a sudden? She'd been the one who kept bringing it up before. It didn't make any sense. "Look, it's about Ginny. Yesterday she …"

"…Understood me speaking parseltongue." Cat looked very relieved that that was what he wanted to talk about. Way too relieved. Something was going on and Harry wanted to know what it was. "Look, there are several ways to pass on parseltongue.

"The most common way is through lineage. Passed from parent to child," she clarified, for Harry's benefit. "Occasionally, a curse can pass it on, but the curses that have been known to do so have been out of use for several millennia. And finally, the least known way of passing on the gift is for two soul mates to kiss each other for the first time. That passes on the gift." Her eyes fixed on Harry's and she grinned when he blushed. "My guess is, is that the last one transferred the gift to Ginny. That's how Charlie got it."

"Soul Mates!" Harry felt like his face was on fire. God this was embarrassing. "Yeah, that sounds … ummmmm … possible. Charlie speaks parseltongue?"

"Yes," Cat mumbled her face red. "He's my soul mate."

"Oh," Harry replied, unable to think of a suitable response."

"Yeah." Cat nodded. "Anything else you wanted to ask about?"

Harry thought about the enigma that was Catherine Smith, good parseltongue speaker, powerful witch, and unpredictable woman. With hair and eyes that kept changing colour.

"No," he replied finally. "Nothing at all."

Cat grinned at him, gave him a hug and returned to the house. The others had left for various reasons, so he stayed by the lake, thinking of all that he had just learnt. Ginny was his soul mate. Soul Mate! They belonged together!

Several minutes into his thoughts, however, he was alerted by sounds of yelling in the house. Instinctively, he pulled his wand from the holster on his thigh and ran to the open kitchen door. He waited out side, one ear on the door, worried in case there was danger inside. However, the argument he overheard had nothing to do with Death Eaters.

"What did you expect Charlie, huh? What was it?" A tearful voice he recognised as Cat's was asking of her companion. "Did you think I'd be happy? Oh yes, I'm fucking ecstatic."

"Look," her companion (who must, Harry realised, be Charlie) responded, his voice that of forced calm. "Can't you at least _try_ and be happy for me? I'll get to do something I love-"

"Obviously more than you love me." Cat interjected, her venomous voice leaving no room for interruption. "Because I won't forgive you this time. You hear me! I don't care if you're my fucking soul mate, most people live perfectly happy lives without their soul mates and I can sure as hell do without mine! I forgave you last time you left me to play with dragons, but I'm not taking you back.

"So go ahead. Leave me here all alone. Just know that I won't be alone in six years when you come back!" At the last of her outburst, she ran out, her tear-filled eyes missing Harry as she ran out of the door next to him.

Taking a few deep breaths to compose himself and replacing his wand in the holster, Harry entered the kitchen to see Charlie muttering to himself about crazy girls who didn't listen and couldn't stop being "so bloody lovable", before he left the kitchen, also missing Harry's presence.

Climbing the stairs to Ron's room – where a muggle book he had recently started called "All Families are Psychotic" awaited him (A seriously good book that I recommend to anyone with a sense of humour) – Harry tried to piece together the conversation, so that he could try to work out what had happened to cause the happy couple from breakfast to become the raging couple he had just discovered.

Unable to fully piece together the argument in his already confused mind, Harry simply picked up the book and returned to Shw and the rest's bizarre adventure. In fact, that was where Ginny found him on her return from the shopping centre she had visited with Hermione.

The moment he had finished the end of his explanation – which took longer than expected due to 'snogging breaks' – Ginny smiled indulgently at him. "You honestly don't know what that all meant?" She asked, still smiling in a patronising manner that didn't annoy Harry nearly as much as he expected it should.

At the shake of his head, she explained. "Well, it sounds like Charlie's got a new job with dragons and Cat doesn't want to go so they're fighting about it."

Comprehension dawned on Harry, but it didn't really matter as his brain turned to mush seconds later when their lips touched.

Several days passed and the atmosphere between Cat and Charlie was so thick you could practically cut it with a knife. Although the Weasley's were sad that their second eldest son was to return to Romania for a six year plan, it was nothing compared to Cat, who's eyes were almost continually red-rimmed and who's temper was closer to the surface than Harry's on a bad day.

Charlie, on the other hand, was attempting to brush it off and keep happy, though the constant grins and laughter were worse than the hurt and anger of his partner. He also seemed very nervous, particularly today. The day he was due to leave.

As they stood with him at the edge of the field, standing a line, they took it in turns to say their goodbyes. The twins and Bill, gave him hugs and laughs and told him not to get too many new burns, while Ron simply shared grins with a brother he regretted not spending enough time with. Hermione and Fleur both hugged him; tear's in Fleur's eyes prominent when he engorged stomach stopped his from being close. Molly was sobbing almost hysterically, while her husband smiled at his son, meeting the young man's eyes. Harry shook his hand arm around Ginny, who through herself at him and made him promise to keep in touch.

Cat, at the end of the line, sniffled and merely said "Good Luck and goodbye."

However, that was no where near the end. After all, that was when Charlie removed a ring box from his pocket, got down on one knee and, to the shock of everyone, proposed to his soul mate.

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Ooooooh. I wonder what she'll say...  



	14. Wedding Planning or not…

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**Wedding Planning (or not…)**

Harry wasn't sure how he expected Cat to respond to the proposal. A kiss, or tears, or something of the kind, he supposed. What he didn't expect was for Cat to pick up her handbag and whack Charlie round the head with it, screaming at him for "Making me worry for a week, Charlie Roger Weasley! A whole bloody week!", and "proposing just before your about to leave! What kind of women do you take me for!" and for being "an inconsiderate imbecile, not thinking about anything except trying to make life some smushy movie!"

Dodging blows from the handbag and fist heading his way, Charlie stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She managed to get out, "You're a real prick you know," before their lips collided and they kissed.

Once they separated, Cat grinned and told Charlie, "Your wedding suit better expose your tattoo sweetie, I didn't go with you to get it so you could hide it."

It was only the fact that her second eldest had just got engaged that obviously stopped Mrs Weasley from screaming at him for getting a tattoo. Maybe she and Cat weren't so different after all, Harry thought.

He and Ginny spent the morning together, catching up on everything and relaxing more with each other. Now that they'd fully accepted that they had discovered their soul mates in each other, they had begun to spend all their time alone together talking in parseltongue. This was mainly due to the fact that only one of Ginny's protective older brothers spoke the language and they had enough blackmail on him to stop him from telling the others what they discussed.

On their way back to the house, Harry pulled Ginny to a stop when he heard slightly raised voices in the kitchen again. Motioning the door, and ignoring Ginny's bewildered expression, Harry placed his ear at the keyhole and listened unashamedly. Ginny, once she realised the situation, quickly followed suit.

"Look, I'm really worried, OK." Cat's voice was urgent and slightly hushed.

Charlie's voice quickly answered. "Are you sure the spells fading?"

Cat's voice was now annoyed and slightly raised. "Of course I'm sure, every time I get pissed off my hair bushes up and turns red and my eyes flash green. Are you telling me that's normal?"

"Of course not," Charlie replied, obviously trying to sooth his fiancée. However, his next words were suddenly accusatory. "Wait a minute, how _do_ you know? Oh Catherine … you didn't…"

"It was only for a second," she protested, though it sounded very defensive. "I just wanted to know what he was thinking."

"You have to tell him soon Cat, what if he works it out on his own? Do you realise how betrayed that will make him feel?"

"It told you, I'm easing into it." This conversation was obviously familiar to the pair. "I promised you I'd tell him before the wedding didn't I? I _do _want him to give me away."

"If you think you know best." Charlie replied, though his tone made it clear that this was far from over. "Just … tell him soon alright. He really has been through more than enough."

"Look, I promised your mum I'd help with working out the date and stuff. How do you feel about a month?"

"A month what?"

"A month till the wedding silly. Oh, and by the way, Mummy wants to meet her little Charlie-Warlie to talk about his tattooey-woowie."

"I am NOT a mummy's boy."

Their argument got quieter as they left the kitchen. Ginny met Harry's eyes and she hissed at him in parseltongue, "What was that about?"

Harry had no answer. He knew that something about that conversation should trigger something, but he didn't quite know what.

They followed the engaged couple into the Living Room and grinned at each other when Mrs Weasley grabbed her second eldest son by the ear. "Now you show me that tattoo right now Charles Weasley, or I'll…"

"Fine," Charlie grumbled, pulling off his jumper. There on his shoulder was a golden snitch with feathery wings that looked caught in flight. "There, my tattoo. And before you go on and on about it, remember that Cat has four."

Mrs Weasley's lips were pursed disapprovingly, before she turned to Cat. "And, you, young lady, show me yours."

Cat gladly obliged, though, once she was done, she propped her gaze to the floor, obviously prepared to be told of.

She wasn't at all disappointed. Harry actually thought he'd forgotten how loud that woman could yell! Ginny was obviously enjoying every moment of her brother's embarrassment. It only increased her enjoyment when Mrs Weasley turned to leave the room. Because when she opened the door, it became obvious to the occupants of the room that Ron and Hermione had been kissing against it. Ron may have been much taller than his mother, but by the end of her rant, he looked smaller than Harry had ever seen him.

Poor Hermione was bright red by the end, particularly as Harry and Ginny's shoulders were shaking pretty much continuously throughout the speech in silent laughter. Once she'd finally calmed down, she left to the kitchen so that she could make the dinner.

Harry was actually rather glad that she'd got it out of her system, she hadn't blown up at anyone in a while and he knew that the longer between blow-ups, the more extreme the blow-up when it came. The same was not only true for her, but for any woman he had ever met, including everyone form Aunt Petunia to Professor McGonagall to Hermione.

His thought's, as the discussion turned to what everyone had done that day, turned back to that conversation in the kitchen. He knew something of it should be ringing some bells, but, for the life of him, he just couldn't work out what. His thoughts suddenly turned back to that day he and Cat had been talking outside, about Sirius. What she'd said … it had been almost exactly what he'd thought when she'd asked him if there was anything more to discuss.

But what did that have to do with the rest of the conversation? And if he was the 'he' they'd been talking about, what was it that he was going to be told before Cat and Charlie's wedding?

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A/N: I know, I know. I'll try to update sooner... So...What do you think? 


	15. All is Revealed

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**All becomes clear – to Harry at least**

_**But that doesn't mean he has to like it!**_

It was three weeks to the wedding, and Mrs Weasley was stressing out absolutely and completely. Not only that, but she had roped (or blackmailed in the cases of Fred and George) the rest of the Weasley's, and Harry and Hermione by extension, into helping with the Wedding preparations. It was even worse that Bill and Fleur's wedding. At least then, they'd had a year to plan it, not just a month.

Most occupants of the Burrow had taken to looking round corners for Mrs Weasley or Fleur (who seemed to be channelling all the enthusiasm she'd had for her wedding into this) were round the corner. Most suspiciously of all, this included the couple actually getting married.

Cat had been heard, on several occasions, expressing her regret that she couldn't just elope and, as she put it, "Be _done_ with this entire stupid hullabaloo." However, no one truly believed her, as they had all been there the day that they had entered the Wedding Dress shop. It had been a humungous effort on the part of all those attended, that is everyone but Charlie, to get her out when the store closed.

Harry and Ginny regretted that they didn't have very much time to spend alone together, and had taken to going outside and talking around the lake about anything and everything.

Ginny would be returning to Hogwarts two weeks after the Wedding, and, after a lot of arguments with Mr and Mrs Weasley, so were Harry, Ron and Hermione. Though Harry no longer wanted to be an auror, to get his dream job, as a healer, he needed the NEWTs that were, luckily, the same that he had needed to be an auror. As he'd said to Ginny during one of their lake discussions "I've spent so much time in and around hospitals, I'm sure I'll feel right at home working in one."

Though he knew that it would be hard for him to get into any career, as he was a celebrity, he wanted to work and earn a living. And he was willing to put in as much work as he could.

Today, however, Ginny, Hermione, Tonks and a friend of Cat's from Hogwarts had all gone to get bridesmaid dresses (under the watchful eyes of Mrs Weasley and Fleur, of course). The happy couple were spending some time together, and the Weasley boys, under the very strict instructions of Tonks, had taken Remus to buy himself some decent dress robes. As he already had some, Harry had sneaked out of the trip as he suspected he would have been kidnapped in much the same manner as dear old Moony.

Alone, well pretty much alone, Harry had gone to sit by the lake to just spend some time thinking. And his present topic of thought was certainly something that needed a lot of thought.

Harry had always tried to work out mysteries that he was confronted with. And he had always seemed to encounter an awfully large amount. But, at the end of the day, the mystery was always solved. But that wasn't happening here. At all.

Catherine had always intrigued him. At first, he had put it down to her incredible likeness to Sirius, not only in appearance, but in mannerisms. But there was also, though it was incredibly hard to believe, her incredible likeness to … him.

Of course, it wasn't that she looked like him, but they were both orphans, both had looked to Sirius as an adopted father (though he actually was in her case), both spoke parseltongue, both had found their soul mates in the Weasley family…the list went on and on. Ginny had even commented that some of their facial expressions were similar. If he didn't know any better, he'd think they were related, but they couldn't be…could they?

For one thing, they looked completely different. _But_, a quiet voice in Harry's subconscious rose up,_ magic can change other's appearances. And there was the way that her hair and eyes changed and she talked about a spell wearing off._

Harry shook his head. It was impossible; he had no other relatives, other than the Dursleys. So she'd have to be his … sister. But that couldn't be right. Lupin had told him that his parents had been twenty when he had been born, and she was about six years older than him, wasn't she? _But she had said her parents were very young when they had her, fourteen in fact._

No, no, someone would have told him of he had a sister, wouldn't they? People would have known. _But not if they went to some effort to keep it a secret. After all, you should know more than anyone that people at Hogwarts always have secrets._

Feeling like hyperventilating, Harry sat on the grass and covered his face with his hand. This was not happening. Gripping onto the last straw, he thought of what Sirius had said about his parents not getting together till they were in their last year. But when he'd said it, Harry had been sure that he wasn't looking him in the eye. Remus had, but Sirius hadn't. And if Sirius had adopted her, then he would have to know, wouldn't he.

Oh crap, this was not good. This was really not good. Why couldn't he be normal, Harry couldn't stop himself from thinking. Normal people certainly did not suddenly discover that their deceased parents had had a child at fourteen, and not told anyone about it, before then uncovering them.

Oh Merlin. Harry took a deep breath. He was probably over reacting. But he had to ask. And, yes, she would probably laugh it off, but this was IMPORTANT! The next time he saw her, he had to ask her. And, as luck would have it, she was just walking by with her fiancée, arguing about arrangements for the reception.

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A/N: All will be verified and exlained next chapter...And please review! 


	16. Why

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**Why?**

Harry walked towards her and Charlie, who were now joking around near the lake.

"Can I have a word?" he asked Cat, ignoring Charlie who got the hint and left. Harry started pacing. "Look," he began. "I know that this is gonna sound kinda crazy and it's probably just nonsense, but I have to ask you. Are you my sister?"

All the colour drained from Cat's face. She started stammering, but it was a few seconds before she got out some proper words. "I know I should have told you. I was going to tell you before the wedding, I promise. It's just … I wanted you to like me for me."

Even though she was obviously close to tears, Harry couldn't stop the anger creeping up and building as she talked. He hadn't felt this kind of anger since his awakening from his coma. How dare she stand there and say that she had denied him his only family because _she had wanted him to like her for her._ How dare she! "You left me! You left me with the _Dursleys!_" He spat out the name. "You made no effort to contact me. You told me nothing! And I'm supposed to believe that you truly care about me. You kept the truth from me and I am so tired of all the half-truths and lies. I am so tired of the truth being kept from me!"

Harry turned from her and walked towards the house. The yelling had done nothing to quell his temper, which was still at its peak. That was until he heard her yell, when curiosity and shock overrode anger. "I'm Crookshanks!"

His neck jerked round. "What!"

She walked forward and placed herself directly in front of him, though she made no effort to initiate any contact. "I'm Crookshanks, it's my animagus form. It … it was one of the few things I never told Charles. When he left for Romania … I got really into drink. Occasionally drugs, but mostly drink. It just got worse after I left Hogwarts."

Harry got the feeling she'd never told anyone else the full story. A small part of him really appreciated that it was _him_ she was telling first, instead of last like normal. However, this was a part he quickly squashed. This was obviously very difficult for her, and he was powerless to do anything but listen.

"I got my first two tattoos, the ones for mum and dad, when I was so drunk, I had no memory of it the morning after. I'd wake up in bed with blokes I'd never met. I lost my job. My 'friends' deserted me. It all got really screwed up and I just felt so … alone.

"One morning, towards the end of your second year, I woke up in my animagus form in a pet-shop. I knew that I needed to stop drinking, so I decided to stay there. It would be the ultimate detox. You can't drink or take anything as an animal. I'm hardly the best looking cat or half-kneazle in the world, so no one bought me. Then the news of Siri's escape came out."

Now that she'd got into her stride, her face that normally shone with enthusiasm and exuberance, just like the twins, looked just plain exhausted. Harry was having immense difficulty remembering why he was still angry at her.

"I knew that he'd go for Peter first or he'd try to find you. Then you came to Diagon Alley. I watched you wonder round, and it was obvious who you were. I mean, look at that _hair._" Here she reached out and ruffled it affectionately. He couldn't stop himself from smiling. "But I couldn't work up the nerve to go and talk to you. Then you came into the shop with your friends. I came and watched you. I recognised Ron of course, but I didn't really know Hermione so I went and made friends.

"then Ron pulled Peter out of his pocket. It took a while for me to get over the shock, but when I did, of course, I attacked. Then Hermione bought me and I knew Sirius was going to Hogwarts. Not only were you there, but so was Peter.

"I knew Fred and George had the Marauders map, so I used to sneak looks at it till I found Siri one night. He was heading for the Whomping Willow and I met him there in human form." A small smile graced her features for the first time since he'd asked if she was his sister. This was obviously a very happy memory for her.

"I cast a spell to make him reveal himself and proved to him who I was. We went to the Shack and I caught him up on my life. Obviously I skipped out my years as a drunk. We'd meet up every night, just to talk." She sniffled. "I never told Remus I was there. I used to sit in on his lessons. I also used to watch you almost any time you flew. You are one of the best fliers I have ever seen, including Dad and Charles. And both of them could have gone professional.

"At the end of the year, I stayed on as a pet. It's not like I had any better offers. I never spoke to Charlie before the World Cup. But the main reason I stayed was to keep an eye on you. I'm sorry I never worked out about mad-Eye.

"During your fifth year, I mostly went to visit Siri and spied on those I believed to be Death Eater spies. I had to hear about his death from overhearing Dumbledore talking with you when you got back to school. I'd have probably destroyed his belongings too."

Now she was looking directly into his eyes and using them to beg for forgiveness. Forgiveness Harry felt himself giving. The smile fully broke out on his face a few seconds after she had enveloped him in a hug. When they broke apart, Harry could see the tears in his sister's eyes, and feel some welling up in his own eyes.

After a few moments of silence, where they just took each other in, Cat reached down and picked up a pebble which she deftly skimmed across the lake. "Will you give me away at my wedding?"

Harry picked up a stone and mimicked his sister's actions. "Of course."

Cat picked another stone up and got this one farther than either had managed before hand. "Do you want to tell everyone? Charlie already knows."

Now that he thought about it, Harry wasn't sure that he wanted everyone to know. He was only just getting used to the idea himself, and it could take some of the attention away from the wedding. However, he had to tell Ginny. They had promised. No more secrets.

"Not really. I'll have to tell Ginny though."

She nodded before turning to face him once more. "Now, I want to hear everything about those Dursleys. I'm afraid we're going to have to pay them a visit." Her mischevious grin was firmly back in place.

OOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo

A/N Sorry I took so long to update, I lost track of the date and didn't post this before I left for my hols. Also, I considering doing a oneshot about when Cat and Charlie met up again in Romania. I just want to get the general view on it. Please Review


	17. Hermione

AN: I know I said that this would be a Dursley chapter, but I changed my mind and decided to have this chapter, which I've had at the back of my mind for a while now. 

Disclaimer: Check out the pen name.

**Hermione**

Harry had let Catherine go ahead into the house, claiming that he needed time to think. And he really did. It was so much to take in at once. He had started the day as an orphan and an only child, no real family, and now he had a sister who was willing to become an active participant in his life. It was beyond weird.

However, when he finally returned to the house, it was to hear the end of a 'Hermione' rant (AN: I know, whenever he returns to the house, there's an argument, but it's a good place ). "…and they are very happy together so it is unbelievably selfish of you to try and drive Harry and Ginny apart, simply because you fancy him! Have you even considered Charlie, who's been practically bouncing off the walls since you agreed to his proposal?! And don't try and deny it, you've been staring at him since we met, so don't try and pull the wool over my eyes. Leave Harry and Ginny ALONE!"

Harry entered the kitchen just to see the bushy hair of one of his best friends slipping past the doorway. Cat stayed behind, glaring in Hermione's wake.

"Stupid girl," she practically growled. "Stupid, know-nothing girl. How dare she? How DARE she?! You can't find it all in books, but what use are_ feelings_? What do they matter? Who cares that Sirius is Harry's only family that he knows, we'll insult him and treat him like his opinion doesn't matter because he's been locked in a house that's driving him mad? Who cares that poor Lavender Brown's only pet has been killed and she's been crying about it for weeks, we'll just treat it as a way to try to disprove a professor we don't like? Who cares that we've been campaigning on House Elf rights for the past year, the moment Dobby suggests anything we disregard it? Who cares that the way Snape was teaching Harry occlumency could have caused him permanent brain damage, he's a teacher and can do no wrong?! ISN'T THAT RIGHT, HERMIONE!?"

She looked furious, the volume of her words rising with each point. Though Harry couldn't help but agree with some of the points, he refused to accept what she was suggesting. Hermione was not a bad person; she was his friend, dammit. And he refused to accept these slurs on her character!

"She's a good person!" he heard himself growl. "_She_ was always there for me, unlike some people!" He knew that he shouldn't have said that, knew that it was beyond mean, but he couldn't help it.

Cat turned around and didn't even bother to pretend she hadn't known he was there. "Oh yeah, and all the things she said to Ron don't count. '..not all of us have the emotional range of a teaspoon, Ronald'." She'd put on an overly high, snobbish voice. "And those letters to Viktor Krum, parading them round right under his nose, and she i knew /i he was jealous."

"And you can talk," Harry growled back in reply. He had a feeling that he was going to start blowing things up again. He put on a higher voice in a mocking impression of Catherine. " 'I forgave you last time you went to play with dragons…', like that's not completely manipulative."

It was at that moment that Harry noticed the furniture floating above his heads. He was so angry he wasn't sure if it was him or Cat herself that was When Cat pulled her eyes away and broke their eye contact they all came crashing down with a nicely dramatic crash that succeeded in distracting Harry from Cat as she left the room.

Mrs Weasley came hurrying into the kitchen a moment later, and bustled about mumbling about how "it would take forever to get all this cleaned up". Harry, after he managed to calm down and stop breathing so heavily, went over and helped Molly repair all the pots and pans that had managed to crash onto the cement tiles that covered the kitchen floor.

Ginny arrived a couple of minutes later, took one look at Harry's eyes and exclaimed, "Oh Mum, me and Harry can handle the kitchen. We'll have it repaired in no time. Off you go, Hermione wants to talk to you about her bridesmaid dress." That, as you can guess, got Mrs Weasley out of the kitchen faster than you can say Pots and Pans. Then she turned once more to Harry and slipped into parseltongue, as the two were used to doing.

"What happened?!"

Harry smiled slightly bitterly. "What didn't?" was his only reply. After quite a while, Ginny finally managed to get the whole story out of him. About half-way through, she'd sat down on a chair and rested her forehead on the table. It was when Harry had joined her at the table and had finished the whole story that Cat entered the kitchen once again.

"I'm really sorry Harry. It's just that she'd used me as a sounding board over the years for all her feelings, especially those on Sirius, and then she accused me of trying to break you two apart because I wanted you for myself … I just couldn't take it any more." She smiled slightly. "Hermione is a lovely person; she can just be too much sometimes."

Harry smiled gently back. And it was then that the two noticed Ginny laughing her head off. "Oh Merlin," she exclaimed, wiping her tearing eyes on the back of her sleeve. "She thought that you," she pointed at Cat, who looked as confused as Harry felt. "Were trying to …. Seduce," here she snorted, "Harry."

It took Harry till three seconds after Catherine started to snicker to finally get the joke. Hermione thought that his sister fancied him! Ewww. But, because it was Hermione, it was actually very funny.

And that was how the rest of the Weasleys found them when they came down to make dinner. Clutching their sides with laughter at Hermione.

* * *

A/N: I just want to make it perfectly clear that I do like Hermione, in fact, she reminds me of myself. This is why I find it very easy to pick up on her faults. If that makes as much sense as I think it does... 


	18. The Dursleys

**The Dursleys **

Harry grinned as he looked round, Ginny on his left and Cat on his right. Despite desperately wishing to never see this place again, he couldn't help but be relieved that he had got away from Mrs Weasley's vengeful pre-wedding craze. She was even scarier than she had been last time there'd been a wedding. This time there were a lot more people to invite and it could be a lot more public, unlike Bill's that had been in complete secret. Well ... almost complete secret, there had been _some_ guests, Harry included.

He was startled out of his thoughts. Ginny asked "Which number's the Dursleys?"

"Number 4, Privet Drive. I have so many fond memories."

Cat was ready to explode. It was the kind of dark expression Harry had only seen in Sirius' eyes when he had seen Wormtail. It was a striking resemblance, despite the fact they weren't related.

Before he knew it, they were outside the front-door. Ginny took Harry's hand as they crossed the front garden. The night before, he'd told them the bare bones of his childhood. That was the main reason for Cat's anger.

Before he rang the doorbell, he turned to his companions and asked for their wands. This would be bad enough without getting hauled up by the Improper Use of Magic office. After some rather hushed argument, he manage to get both and put them with his own in his backpack. He rang the doorbell. He hoped that Cat would keep her temper, or this would be even worse than he expected.

Aunt Petunia answered the door, her long neck leading her out of the door head-first. She started when she saw Harry, though it was no wonder she hadn't seen Ginny or Cat, as they were currently behind the door.

"Well, what do you want?" Her voice was still as piercing and as nasal as ever. "I thought you said we'd seen the last of you and the rest of the freaks when you left."

Harry sighed, he had hoped this wouldn't be too difficult. "I left some things here that I need to collect. Some of them may make themselves known in a rather unfortunate way, especially if someone, say Dudley, decided to go wondering in my room."

The threat was thinly veiled and most of the colour drained from her face, before she finally fully opened the door to let him in. However, this also revealed Cat and Ginny, neither of whom looked particularly happy about being referred to as freaks. "Who are _they_?"

"I'm your niece and this is your future niece-in-law, now you let us in." Cat's voice was menacing and left no room for argument. This was also a trait she appeared to have inherited from her step-father.

Aunt Petunia didn't even attempt to stop them from entering, especially as Ginny was smouldering with fury. As soon as the door was closed, she revealed, "Vernon and Dudley have gone to work. Dudley got the job at Grunnings, just as I knew he would."

Harry would have thought this was said with maternal pride, if it weren't for the fact that she barely focused on what she was saying and there was no inflection in her voice. She appeared to be running on auto-pilot, wiping her hands on the skirt of her blue and green floral patterned dress. She looked no different than when Harry had last seen her, though she did appear to have had a haircut and re-died her hair, for her roots were no longer showing.

"Wait a minute." Harry had just begun leading Ginny and Cat upstairs and away from Aunt Petunia in hope that it would stop the outburst that looked imminent, before his Aunt's interruption. "Did you say you were my niece? That's not possible. I only had one sibling that survived infancy and she had one son and no daughters. You cannot be my niece. You don't even look like my family."

Cat looked like she was going to enjoy giving Aunt Petunia a heart-attack, but Harry thought it was best that that news was best delivered when they could leave very quickly afterwards. Also, he didn't think Ginny would take that long before she exploded, she was already biting very hard on her lip as though to stop herself from saying anything she couldn't take back. "We'll talk about it when I've got my stuff," he called from the landing, before dragging both girls into his room.

"Right, that was close." He shut the door before going over to the bed and bending underneath to prise the loose floorboard up and remove the Marauders Map and his school books that he had left behind, not thinking they would be any use away from Hogwarts. His photo album of his parents was also there, as he hadn't known how safe they would be if he took them with him. They were all he had left of those people, he couldn't let them be damaged or destroyed.

He turned round with them in a bag to find both girls looking out the window at the broken bits of metal where the bars had been ripped off, before turning their eyes to the door with it's cat-flap and locks that could only be opened from the outside. They also scanned the full length of the room, with the barest of furniture, the broken presents and toys of Dudley's, and the untouched books. Cat's eyes were once again 'as green as a fresh pickled toad', and this time they took longer to return to the almost black colour they were now with anger. Like Padfoot before her, she had very expressive eyes.

Ginny looked ready to kill. She had that same look in her eyes she'd had when he'd seen her and Ron fight in that corridor during 6th year. And this time he couldn't prevent it by pushing Ron against a wall and using himself as a human shield. There was no way for him to stop Aunt Petunia from getting the yelling at she was going to receive.

It wasn't that he didn't think she deserved it, because he did. He just wanted to move on with his life. He had learned from his fight with Snape. He'd let his hate consume him, and he didn't think he could ever deal with that again. He's been able to cast the Cruciatus Curse that day. Just seeing Snape in that kind of pain had given him a thrill of power, but it had also made him feel sick. How could he have done that to another human being? He was no better than Voldemort, than Bellatrix Lestrange, than Snape himself. He knew now that he couldn't let that happen again, and if he lost his temper at the Dursleys, he wasn't sure he'd know when to stop.

Ginny was the first out of the room, thundering down the stairs, just as he heard the voices of Uncle Vernon and Dudley begin to echo downstairs. Cat was soon afterwards and Harry felt helpless. He had to follow them, and try and keep a reign on his temper.

By the time he was at the bottom of the stairs, Cat and Ginny were standing, banded together against the three Dursleys, Uncle Vernon turning a familiar shade of purple. He'd barely been in the house five minutes!

"Don't you dare tell me how to raise that louse! He was lucky we even gave him a roof over his head," he roared, spraying spit over Ginny's reddening face. And she certainly wasn't embarrassed.

"He's your bloody nephew and he is certainly not a bloody louse! He saved your ungrateful arses from some who wanted to kill you, the least you owe him is a fucking thank you! It' s a wonder he didn't hand you over on a fucking platter!"

Cat was also furious, her hair bushing out, auburn, her skin paling to Harry's pasty pallor, her nose lengthening, her eyes bottle-green. Dudley looked like he was going to explode with shock. Harry noticed he'd outgrown the covering-his-bottom-with-his-hands-whenever-he-was-confronted-with-magic he had been so used to. Catherine's transformation was much more complete than he had ever seen it. And it wasn't changing back.


End file.
